August Garden Update

You may say this picture of the garden looks a lot like ones from earlier in the summer and you'd be right. Apart from the rapid growth in July when it was stinking hot, my plants have grown rather slowly. August was a cold and cloudy month, except for today, which was stinking hot again. Weird.

I pulled out the radishes (A2) which had gone to seed, and cut down the oat grass (D4) until it was just stubble. I also cut off several of the first lettuces (D2 and D3) , which had also gone to seed and which were producing only tiny and very bitter leaves. In their places I planted more oat grass, which has already re-sprouted about an inch, and also re-seeded some more lettuce with much hope and wishful thinking. If we have a nice September I may just get a second crop of those things.

The carrots, over on the left in spaces A3 and A4 are still very small. The carrots under there are about two inches long now, and while they are very tasty, they will not amount to much. Let's just say I don't have to build that root house just yet. On the other hand, I have learned much about how not to crowd the carrots all together, and that they must be thinned. The beets and chard keep producing tasty leaves which the guinea pigs just love, and they chomp down the carrot tops as well.

My tomato plant, which you can barely see off to the right in a bucket, is doing remarkably well. The tomatoes on there are absolutely delicious, and just nicely cherry size. Even when they are not fully ripened, they taste so much better than store bought. There are many more green tomatoes left on the vine, and I'm hoping the warmer weather continues for a bit so they can also ripen up some more.

The strawberries are also doing well I think. They had lots of blossoms, which I am pinching off at the advice of the greenhouse lady, who said this would help the plants to produce better next year. We planted them kind of late this year, so we weren't looking for a big crop of strawberries in any event.

There's nothing like coming home after work and heading over to the garden for a snack of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes!